Penitence
by Jeffjway
Summary: At the brink of death, as he lay on the floor of Malfoy Manor, Peter Pettigrew is pulled from his doom and given a second chance to live his life over and correct his wrongs. Touch of Doctor Who to set the scene. Time-travel; Complete change of events in Marauder Era; PP/OC.
1. Chapter 1

_This is my first story here, so forgive me if it's not good or if I can't update regularly. You know work and all may affect things._

_I don't see many Peter stories, so either I don't search well and am missing out or he's not a popular guy to write about. Also sorry if a similar fic exists, I swear that I have not read any so far and any similarities just shows a common thought pattern and I will be glad to take down a story if someone think I infringed on their Intellectual property._

_All Doctor Who material used is solely for this chapter to enable the time-travel and will not be present the rest of the story (unless actually requested for), so sorry for any bad Who jokes and your regularly scheduled Potter will continue after this..._

_I have no beta, so sorry if any mistakes come through._

_As usual: Don't own anything, blah blah blah_

**Penitence**

**"Awake, Case number 24607!"**

Case number 24607 opened his eyes groggily and blinked profusely. All around him was pure white light and it really hurt his eyes.

**"Awake, Case number 24607!"**

He shook his head, trying to get his bearings, sniffing the air around him out of habit and fear. All he could remember were green eyes, emerald green eyes looking into him. Anger, fear, hate echoed in those green eyes, yet there was also pity there. He blinked again as his eyes adjusted more to the light.

**"Stand, Case number 24607."**

He could now tell that the voice was … feminine in nature. A bit familiar, yet also foreign at the same time. He grabbed his right hand with his left as a memory surfaced. Something about strangulation and flashing silver, something about… Portly? Porter? Potter? Yes, Potter. He opened his eyes a sliver to look at his arms, both were there and fully flesh.

**"Are you ok, Case number 24607?"**

Case number 24607 turned towards the voice and slowly opened his eyes fully. In front of him stood a lady in a greyish-blue uniform holding a clipboard of some sort. Her hair was a frizzy mousy-brown mess and a pair of black spectacles framed her grey eyes. He looked up and saw the room he was in was pure white and was lit by glowing globes that floated around.

**"Can you understand me, Case number 24607, known also by the designates 'Peter Pettigrew', 'Wormtail', Scrabbers' and 'That damn rat'?"**

**"Y..es."** Peter Pettigrew replied, surprised his voice still worked. **"Where am I? What am I… wait, you look familiar. Granger?"**

The lady in the uniform raised an eyebrow. **"I see that your memories are slowly returning. That's good."**

**"I am not the 'Granger' you know, I assure you, though I do not know which 'Granger' you *do* know, but I am *a* Granger." She continued, smiling a bit as Peter's facial expression showed he was a bit lost now in the logical flow of her statement. "I am case worker Samantha Patrick Granger-Weasley and I am in charge of your case. You are now on the Justice Department Vehicle Number 6015, christened the Teselecta II-B. Though the Captain wanted it to be called the Temporally Adroit Rune Driven Interspatial Ship or T.A.R.D.I.S for short, but was denied the pleasure."**

Peter's confusion increased even more and he felt like he was talking to a Lovegood about the existence of a cross-breed between a Nargle and a Crumple-horned Snorkack and it was evident on his face.

**"Ok, let's break it down simply for your primitive brain. We are on board a humanoid–shaped time machine. We, the crew of this time machine, locate people deemed guilty of crimes who showed regret at their own actions at the point of their death or moments before. We then find them near the end of their respective timelines, extract them out of time a millisecond before their death and offer them a second chance at life. To correct the wrongs they regret."**

**"Second chance?"** Peter's mind grasped at the one thing that seemed important. He did regret the evil he did in his life when the Dark Lord Voldemort returned to power. Yes, he defected to the Dark Side, causing the death of his friends James and Lily; yes, he framed his other best friend Sirius and caused him to go to Azkaban for a decade or so and yes, he brewed the potion that brought about the rebirth of Voldemort. But each of these things he had done out of fear.

Fear that he and his beloved mother would be killed by Voldemort caused him to betray James and Lily; fear of his betrayal being found out caused him to frame Sirius and the reason he sought out Voldemort, returned his wand and performed the ritual to restore the Dark Lord's body, was the fear of the Order finding out he was not only not dead, but had done all that he had done and the subsequent repercussions of those actions.

After Voldemort came back into power, he began to regret it all. The bullying from the other Death Eaters didn't help much, but not the first time in a very long while, his conscience started to prick at him. Every time he looked the silver hand Voldemort gave him to replace the one he had cut off, he felt that he had done something tremendously wrong and the silver hand just highlighted it daily, pointed it out like a teasing parrot every time he moved his hand. And the worst thing is that every time he had such thoughts the hand would twitch violently until he pushed such thoughts away. The damned hand knew his thoughts and was ever ready to punish him for insubordination.

What he did know deep inside his heart, as the days went by and Voldemort took over Hogwarts, was that he had made a mistake all those years ago when he defected. And every action he took was either to cover up his mistakes, his fears or his inabilities or to escape from the truth. And that every such action just caused things to get worse for himself like a downward spiral.

Why else did he not do anything except be a pet rat to the Weasleys, why else would he not have attacked and killed Harry Potter when he was basically in the same dorm as him for an entire school year. He was afraid and didn't want to do anything to make the situation any worse that it is. He never knew why the Hat sorted him into Gryffindor. Maybe he was not cunning enough, not smart enough and not loyal enough for the other houses. The hat dumped him in Gryffindor because there was no where else to put him.

Now he was being offered a chance to change all that. All that Peter had gone through with Voldemort had truly changed him, all the grovelling to avoid punishment by Cruciatus, all the simpering to please the Dark Lord, all the things he did to cover up his own guilt just caused him to end up in a bigger, deeper hole, they had made him hate himself all the more each day. Change, a discarding of the Peter Pettigrew that he had grown to hate, a reset of his entire life. Maybe he could now become the Gryffindor the Hat thought he could be instead of  
the fool he had been.

He realised he didn't even question in his own mind what the lady had told him about a second chance, he immediately just accepted it. So he asked hesitatingly **"What do you mean by second chance? And how do I know what you are saying is real?"**

Samantha smiled. **"It is real. We have ****_Summoned_**** you into our vessel magically to prevent your death, the Teselecta itself has transformed itself into your likeness and is right now taking your place in Malfoy Mansion pretending to have been strangled to death by your hand."**

**"My hand is no longer…"** Peter interjected and pointed to his right hand. His memories of the silver hand still plaguing his mind, it being the very last thing he remembered.

**"Ah, right. The hand. We removed it from you surgically when we brought you in and have recreated a flesh and blood hand using some technomantic procedures that even I can't properly explain. Maybe I can ask Doctor McCoy if you truly are curious. But simply put, your hand is restored to you and you don't need to worry about it."**

**"But let's not digress. As I said, we ****_Summoned_**** you into our vessel and the vessel will temporarily assume your dead form while we brief you on our offer. The Teselecta can manipulate its size and shape via the various magically powered runes that drive the vessel, as for us, the passengers, just think of us as miniaturised by a Rune-powered compression field as long as we are within the Teselecta."** Samantha explained as Peter's face started to show signs of confusion again.

**"The offer is, as I said earlier, to give you a second chance. Our temporal scanning systems have deemed you sufficiently repentant at the point of death to grant you a choice of reliving your life or going on to the Great Beyond. If you choose to relive your life, we will transfigure some random debris into your dead body and leave it in your place, bring you back to a point in time that is suited for creating a temporally divergent time stream and allow you to live your life again. If you choose to not relive your life, we will send you on to the Great Beyond peacefully with some potions that will ease you into the next great adventure easily."**

**"Do I have to decide now?"** Peter asked. Without the threat of Voldemort looking over his shoulder at every action he did and probing his mind with Legimancy and without the stress of trying to stay alive (well, he was supposed to be already dead, he felt), Peter wanted some time to think it through.

Which surprised him.

Peter had never really been a thinker. That was always more Remus' field. Peter always followed his Fight or Flight instinct and his own creed of following the strongest person, be it James Potter in school or Voldermort after. He had never sat down and thought things through like that.

**"You have about 2 hours to decide."** Samantha replied as she got up and walked towards the door of the room they were in **"After that we have another case to work on, Case number 24608, a Draco Malfoy…" **

Peter's head snapped up at the name, but Samantha had already left the room and the doors were just closing behind her.

Peter looked down at his feet. He had no reason to reject this second chance, none whatsoever. Why did he even want time to think it through? After a long while of sitting there thinking, he realised why. He sub-consciously never wanted to make rash decisions again, decisions that would cause him to regret.

No matter how hard he tried, he could not even come up with a scrap of a reason not to take the offer. There was absolutely nothing that he had in life anymore, no more friends, no family and no cause to live for. For him to live his life again, to correct his wrongs, was a blessing. The things he could do, be a stronger person and not hide under James' coat-tails, find love, actually make a difference in the world. Stop being the weakling that everyone says he is.

When Samantha returned a couple of hours later, Peter looked her straight in the eyes as she walked through the doors and told her with a resolute voice: **"I'll take the offer."**

**"Good, most people take the offer and I don't think any of them have regretted it since. Let me first brief you on what to expect. We will be returning you to your first year in Hogwarts, before any major solidifying event happens, so that the time stream can easily diverge without much difficulty. It will also allow you to change more of your life in the way you desire. As the very action of returning you to that point in time will diverge the time-stream, events may not happen the way it had in your own past and you are free to take any action you want without any fear of disrupting the time-lines but you must never let anyone know of your knowledge from your own time-line. Think of your current memories of your own past as what might-have-beens, and make new memories to replace them."** Samatha looked at Peter. **"Any questions?"**

**"Err… what exactly do you mean by 'events may not happen the way it had in my own past'?"** Peter asked.

**"What it means is that Voldemort might not rise to power, or that he might appear earlier this time; James Potter might not marry Lily Evans; Sirius Black might not be kicked out of the Black Household; Severus Snape might not be a Slytherin. We are putting you on the Hogwart's Express, just as it leaves King's Cross Station, Anything that happened before that point in time did truly happen, anything after that may change either due to your actions or by chance. Not everything is a Fixed Event that must happen and sometimes simple actions of turning left instead of right can change the fate of an entire universe due to the repercussions of that single choice."** Samantha explained, but it only caused Peter's face to scrunch up in further confusion. With a sigh, Samantha just said **"What happened before you got on the train to Hogwarts happened, anything after that can change and may not follow what you remember. Just don't try to tell anyone about the event from your 'previous' life, just try to live a new one"**

**"I think I get it…" **Peter said hesistantly.

**"Well then, it's time for you to go then. I'll bring you to the Temporal Launch Bay for the start of your whole new life. Try to make it a better one." **Samantha snapped her fingers and two guards entered to escort Peter out.** "It's just a formality, don't worry about them"**

Peter got up and followed the guards out wordlessly, still sorting out the details in his mind, but if the only rule he had was not to talk about his past, he was glad. He was ashamed of it, why would he want to talk about it?

He walked through corridors of what seemed like metal walls coloured the bluest blue he had ever seen, but nothing shocked Peter anymore after being pulled from his own death, so he just accepted it as normal for these people, what did he know about temporary ajar whats-its.

He arrived in a circular room with rune circles on the floor made of bright dots of lights. He looked at Samantha, who nodded towards the rune circles and said **"Just walk into the LED circle and you will immediately be transported to your destination, no need to be afraid. Good luck, Mr Pettigrew."**

Peter Pettigrew took a deep breath and walked forwards into the circle of lights and was blinded by a sudden flash of red light, causing Peter to shut his eyes and bring up his arms to shield his face. When he finally opened his eyes and let his arms down, he saw himself standing at a very familiar spot.

King's Cross Station, just after you walk through the barrier to Platform 9 3/4s.

_A/N: It's short I know, but I didn't know if this story would be well-accepted and didn't really know if I should continue with it. If I get enough positive reviews, I will continue, else I will try another story._


	2. Chapter 2 - Fear is the Mindkiller

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of JK's intellectual property. I do reserve the right for any OCs I create. I also thank the Internet for helping me to get names and facts. Any canonical mistakes made should be pointed out to me if possible, though some may not be mistakes at all.

**Chapter 2 – Fear is the Mindkiller**

Peter looked around at the bustle of people around him, and a lump began to form in his throat and a feeling of heaviness clenched at his heart as he saw faces of people he knew, people who had been acquaintances, even friends last time… no, in his past life … yes, he should start thinking of it as his past life now, this is a NEW beginning, a entirely new…

**"Peter! Don't dawdle here in front of the barrier, you'll block the way and others can't come through"** A familiar voice came from behind him. A voice he had not heard in almost twenty plus years.

**"M..Mom?"** Peter stammered as tears came to his eyes. The memories of what had happened to her in his past life came to him fast and furious. Memories of her being tortured at the end of the Dark Lord's wand; the Dark Lord demanding his loyalty in return for her life; her death at the hands of Death Eaters who had found her due to the posthumous Order of Merlin she received on his behalf and blamed her for what happened to their Master. Peter turned to look at the only person that he felt loved him, truly and completely, the one person he sacrificed everything to try to save, and tears fell uncontrollably as he reached over and hugged her.

**"Peter… oh my poor boy. I thought you would be happy getting on the train to Hogwarts after all that jumping on your bed in joy when the post owl came with your letter. What's wrong?" **Mrs Pettigrew held on to her sobbing boy tightly as he bawled his eyes.

**"I… I m… missed you." **Peter stammered through his tears **"I…will miss you"** he corrected after a while, realising in a sudden moment of clarity that all that he remembered has not yet… no WILL never happen again. That he swore.

Mrs Pettigrew just shook her head at her son's confession. **"I know, dear, I know. But you have to be strong. You're a big boy now. You won't need me to chase bullies away anymore; you will be able to handle them yourselves now that you have your own wand and are in school learning to able to defend yourself."** Mrs Pettigrew pulled out a handkerchief from her bag and wiped up her son's tears. **"Now, you're making a scene, Peter, and that's not helping any."**

A lady dressed in black with some gold and red accents along the edges of the dress came up to the mother and son pair and helped to shield them with her body from more attention**. "Enid, you're drawing a lot of attention here. And that's saying something given there's hundreds of noisy children here trying to get unto the train to school."** The lady said with a small laugh that she hid behind the embroidered fan she had opened in her hand.

**"Dorea, I'm glad to see you're in a good mood. Your son didn't create any fuss this morning? Sorry that mine seems to be a little clingy. Been that way since his father died. Always got picked on by the neighbours for that and it didn't help his self-esteem and confidence any bit. Probably can't bear to leave me and it finally hit him once he saw the train that he was going to leave and there was no escaping it."** Enid Pettigrew said as Peter ducked behind his mother almost instinctively. Not because of shy-ness, which was probably what his mother thought, but due to the fact he saw the face of the man he betrayed on the other side of the lady in black, James Potter.

Peter didn't know how to react to the person that he had betrayed to the Dark Lord; the look on James' face when Peter walked into the house at Godric's Hollow behind his Master was filled with such revulsion that it had shook him to the core to see just before James was killed by Voldemort. He had knelled beside James' body saying apologies upon apologies as the Dark Lord ascended up the stairs. There was no way he wanted to look Lily in the eyes, not after what he saw in James'.

Now, that very person, albeit many years younger, stood there smiling at him. He wanted to run, to hide away. Fear gripped at his heart again, the fear that was always there directing his every action since his betrayal, the fear of facing the people he betrayed.

**"James was…a bit rambunctious this morning, literally bouncing off the walls. But Charlus managed to calm him down with a few… threats of corporal punishment. I really wonder how you manage alone since Kenneth died. It was such terrible way to go, an Auror killed by a drunk Muggle while trying to arrest criminals, terrible w...ay.."** Dorea Potter rambled on before noticing the shift in Enid Pettigrew's demeanour on the mention of her husband's death and stopped before she dug herself into a hole. **"Anyway, I have told James here to take care of Peter, so he should have at least one friend in school…. Err.. So, you didn't get the Divination job? That would have at least let you be in Hogwarts with Peter."** she quickly changed the subject before Enid got angry with her.

**"No, Dumbledore said that the current Divination teacher ****_foresaw_**** that she would only leave in 8 years time and that the position wasn't open. Besides, I only have my OWL scores to back me up and don't have actual experience in Divination. But I guess this might be for the best, Peter can't always be tied to my apron-strings. He has the Pettigrew name to live up to."** Enid Pettigrew answered her friend with a hard look into Dorea Potter-Black's eyes as she said the last sentence.

Dorea Potter shrunk back a bit, and gave a weak smile, acknowledging the barb targeted at her slip of the tongue.

**"Peter, my dear, you need to get unto the train before it leaves. I'm sure your friend James here will help you get your trunk on and he will take care of you while you're in school, ok? Don't be afraid."** Mrs Pettigrew knelt down to look Peter in the eyes. **"Be strong."**

Peter looked away from James and into his mother's eyes. It was the same speech he remembered her giving his previous life and it began to draw out more sweet memories of her. But it also served to pull him out of his fear and to remember that he was here now, in this new life, to make things right, to not be the man he used to be.

His father was an auror, a person he had looked up to when he was young. His death a year before at the hands of a muggle drunkard who had stabbed him with a broken bottle, mistakenly thinking his father was trying to rob him when instead his father wanted to _Protego_ him to protect him from a crazed wizard causing chaos on the streets, caused many kids to laugh at him for having a father that could be killed by a drunk and a Muggle one at that. That didn't go well for poor Peter.

The old Peter's confidence was shattered at the loss of his father, whom he idolised, and the old Peter had filled the void left behind by his father by latching onto James Potter and the Marauders, trying to find purpose in himself and life in general.

New Peter was a different story.

Peter nodded to his mother, smiled, turned to James Potter and extended his hand out **"Hi, I'm Peter. Pleased to meet you."** Luckily James and both their mothers dismissed his tears and cracked voice as nervousness and the aftermath of his previous breakdown, no one but him knew it took a lot out of him to even look at James and not start grovelling for forgiveness at his feet.

James Potter smiled back and shook Peter's extended hand**. "Hope you like fun, 'cos we'll be having loads of fun together!"** he exclaimed. **"Come on! We should get onto the train and get a good seat and have a good talk."**

James grabbed his trunk and pulled Peter towards the train in a hurry. Peter, dragging his trunk along, looked back towards his mother and waved as James pulled him off. A mixed feeling of the joy of seeing her again and the dread of leaving her so soon after filled his heart.

Peter soon lost sight of his mother as James pulled him into one of the carriage compartments and sat him down**. "Stay here."** James ordered before he ran out of the compartment again.

Peter took the time to calm himself and focus on what he had to do. He knew he will now meet Sirius once James brought him into the carriage and he had to steel himself to face the man he framed. This seemed way easier back in that whats-its-name thingie where he was offered this second chance, so much simpler. Now the prospect of meeting people long dead, people he knew would become Death Eaters and getting Sorte… oh dear. The HAT! It could read his thoughts! This is not good, not good at all. It'll tell Dumbledore and he'll be caught and they will send him to Azkaban and he'll die and… He should run away, hide. There's no way this was a good idea, no way he can survive this witho..

_Be Strong…._

The parting words of his mother echoed deep down within his mind, pulling him out of his downwards spiral of negative thoughts. Yes, be strong. Can't let his second chance at life be the same as his first. Peter swallowed hard and tried to calm himself down again as he heard the train whistle go off and began to feel the train move. Peter quickly popped his head out the window by his side and tried to look for his mother and waved to her as the train chugged out of the station.

Then the compartment door swung open, tearing Peter out from his own thoughts. Sirius Black and James Potter crash into the compartment, both trying to tickle each other and trying their best not to laugh.

Peter sighed and shook his head as the memories of the antics these two always did came back to him. Probably the two of them made a bet as to who could make the other laugh out first and most probably the stakes was for some bragging rights or first choice of beds or something. They were worse than the Weasley twins, in his opinion, the twins didn't prank each other just for the fun of it, and given Peter was in the Weasley House for almost twelve years, he would know.

Peter looked on at the mess happening in front of him as the two ignored him and continued their tickle war, a bit unsure of what to do. He was mentally, to a certain extent, in his late thirties now, and really couldn't appreciate what he now felt was childish antics, especially after being through two wars and facing horrors that has scarred him terribly. So he did the most sensible thing he could think of, he took a breathe and went **"Hem-Hem"** as loud as he could. Working with Dolores Umbridge near the end of the Second War did cause some things to rub off on him.

Peter and Sirius stopped their tickle war, turned to Peter, both shocked at the sudden interruption, and then both started laughing out loud at Peter, then at each other for laughing**. "Fine, it's a draw"** James finally said after catching his breath **"Sirius, this is Peter Pettigrew. My dad was his dad's boss and I'm supposed to make sure he's ok at school. Peter, this is Sirius Black, my best mate and co-conspirator for pranks."**

**"Yes…err , right…"** Peter said in a rather soft voice as he reached out to shake Sirus' hand, trying his best to not flinch at all. **"Glad to meet you, …err.. Sirius"**

**"Hey, any friend of my friend is a friend of mine… Friend?"** Sirius said excitedly as he shook Peter's hand vigorously. Looking into Sirius eyes and seeing no hate, no doubt and no anger almost made Peter cry. Peter, when living as Scrabbers, had nightmares of how Sirius had stared him in the eyes after he had betrayed James, the vehemence and sense of utter betrayal in his face as Sirius wrapped his hands around Peter's neck, demanding to know why he betrayed James. Now that very face only held innocence and child-like trust, untouched by the horrors of the world or even the hurt his own family would deal to him one day.

And that sight, that thought, served to strengthen the resolve within Peter, small though it may be, that he was doing the right thing coming back here, to right his wrongs, to redeem himself in his own eyes. Peter's smile grew just that little bit brighter as he shook Sirius' hand back just as vigorously, and allowing a friendship, that, for him, had once broken due to his own fear and cowardice, reform.

James joined in the fun, shaking the free hands of both Sirius and Peter and all three of them laughed out loud. The horsing around and the sound of the laughter no longer seemed immature to Peter, it felt almost healing to his soul and allowed him to drown out the fears festering in his heart and replacing it to the warmth of friendship.

At least until the compartment door behind Peter was pushed open with a significant amount of force. The pale white face and blonde locks that greeted him when Peter turned around caused him to **"Eep"** out loud, let go of James' and Sirius' hands and scramble to the far corner of the compartment.

**"What seems to be the commotion here? We have just left the station and you rascally first-years already think you own this place? Let me inform you, I am Prefect Lucius Malfoy and I have the power to dock your points for unruly behaviour on the train"** the new-comer declared in a snotty voice. Two other students stood on either side of him, smirking at Peter's response.

**"But we're not even in a House yet, you can't dock points from people without a House. We're not even in school yet."** Sirius started whining.

**"Ah, yes. Sirius Black. Your cousin Narcissca warned me you'll be here this year. You better hang around with more…. suitable… friends. You know all Blacks are going to be in Slytherin and it's not going to benefit you any if you're seen with people like Potter here who I expect will become a Gryffindor."** Lucius drawled with a hint of distaste **"And … what seems to be a cowardly piece of trash"** he continued, pointing at Peter who was by now trying to hide behind his trunk. **"But to address your… concerns. Since the train counts as part of Hogwarts, as Prefect I can deal with disciplinary issues as needed and you lot of riffraff are disturbing the peace. And for talking back to me, I'm gonna…" **Lucius then drew his wand, about to hex James and Sirius.

Peter knew Lucius well, maybe a little too well. Years of grovelling and being bullied by him, both in school and as a Death Eater made him rather scared of the blonde Slytherin and the sight of Lucius standing behind him was enough to trigger his flight instinct. He had been on the business end of Lucius' wand too many times while staying over at the Malfoy manor and seeing him coming up behind him just freaked him out.

Seeing Lucius draw his wand on James and Sirius made him want to cower under the compartment seats, there was no way that 3 first years could handle a fifth-year prefect, especially since there was 2 more Slytherins behind him, which he recognised as Phillip Crabbe and Richard Goyle. But then he wasn't exactly a First-year, was he, Peter thought to himself and grabbed his 9 ¼" chestnut wand tightly in his hands. His friends were in trouble. Friends he had let down once before due to fear, he couldn't do it again.

**"Since you two like you laugh so much, let's see how you like this. ****_Titillando_****!"** Lucius aimed the Tickling Hex on Sirius and James who stood there unmoving like deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car.

**"****_Protego_****!"** Peter shouted at the top of his voice, his eyes tightly shut and his wand pointing straight in front of him, creating a shield just in time to protect his friends from the oncoming purple, hand-shaped ribbons of light.

There was a moment of silence as everyone took in what just happened and all eyes turned towards Peter. Peter slowly opened one eyelid then the other. Realising everyone was looking at him now that both his eyes were open, Peter scrambled to hide back behind the trunks for fear of retaliation.

**"What's going on here?"** a voice came from behind the Slytherin group and a tall, ruddy Hufflepuff squeezed past them.

**"None of your business, doing some prefect duties, go away"** Lucius sneered at the newcomer.

**"And since I'm Amos Diggory, Head Boy, that IS my business."** the Hufflepuff replied, flashing his Head Boy Badge and staring Lucius down. **"And from what I heard coming up the corridor, it almost sounds like a prefect bullying first years. I would hope I heard wrongly, because if I didn't, then Slytherin would have one less prefect at the Welcome feast."**

Lucius ground his teeth in anger and broke eye contact with Amos, opting to instead glare at Peter, who had just peeped up from behind the trunk he was hiding behind.

**"Just beat it, Malfoy."** Amos said firmly **"Go find someone else to irritate."** Lucius Malfoy and his two mates, Crabbe and Goyle quickly filed out from the compartment muttering curses about unworthy people holding positions of power.

Peter watched the future death eaters leave and let out the breath he didn't realise he was holding as he crawled out form behind the trunk.

**"Good spell casting, young man. I know many older boys not able to cast a Shield as easily as you did." **Amos Diggory said, looking at Peter.

**"I..I'm not going to gg…get into trouble, right?"** Peter stammered.

**"Not with me, you're not. As Malfoy pointed out, the train counts as part of Hogwarts and using spells while in Hogwarts isn't punishable unless it causes harm to another. But you better watch your back; Malfoy isn't one to forget easily." **Amos said. **"Now how did you know that spell?"**

Peter swallowed hard. First years weren't supposed to be able to cast a Shield spell.

**"I…I.. learnt it from my f..father, he's..s. a Auror, or was an Auror. H…he's dead now" **he stammered out, hoping that he sounded believable. Peter wasn't a stranger to acting, especially after acting as a spy within the Order of the Phoenix for Voldemort and a rat for many years, but he was rather out of practice.

**"Oh… I'm sorry."** Amos said, and tried to change the subject **"Err.. I hope you will become a Hufflepuff. With your skill, I would hate for you to be in another House. Take care now, boys" **he said and turn around to leave the suddenly awkard situation

Once Amos Diggory left the compartment, Peter slumped down unto the seats and heaved a sigh of relief. But within a few seconds, his two companions had finally gotten over the shock and were dancing around the compartment declaring Peter was the best friend they ever had in the world.

_Thanks for the reviews and good comments. I will attempt to write whenever I'm free to do so (ie, not bogged down by work). I do hope to get Peter's mindset and behaviour right. He won't be a superman or a all-smart knowing thinker-type. He's decalred by the Professors that taught him to be weak in his studies and even by Voldemort as a pathetic wizard, but yet he did do a lot in the books and survived as long as he did, so I'm trying to find a balance for that and a reason for him to be as the books said he was._

_Help me stay on track using your reviews so that I don't lose my way and have my plot snorkacks run off in a different direction than I originally wanted them to._

_Thanks._


	3. Chapter 3 - The game is afoot

_Disclaimer : As usual, I don't own HP, else there would be better thought out relationships_

_As requested, I won't use Bold to denote speech, just the inverted commas. Thoughts are in itallics._

_Thanks for the reviews:_

_ed665 - I actually have not decided. It can go both ways right now. _

_Prof Radar - Thanks for pointing out that, I included it here in this chapter (don't think I broke anything with me putting it in)_

**Chapter 3 – The game is afoot**

The laughter and relaxed mood in the compartment eased Peter's soul tremendously. The joy and happiness on his friends' faces was enough to make to make Peter's day and, reminding himself that he was eleven again, Peter allowed himself to join in the fun.

With the revelry happening in the compartment, the three boys didn't notice the compartment door open again until a soft voice interrupts their merry-making**. **"Do you boys have a space in here for one more? I need some cheering up and you three here seem to have loads of cheer to spare."

Peter spun around, legs getting ready to run on the first sign of trouble, and saw a young girl with long red hair and tear-streaked cheeks. Lily! His mind screamed out and the rest of his body decided to follow what his legs had prepared to do and Peter scrambled to duck behind his trunk, a tried and true spot for him by now.

Peter's mind raced between fear and amusement as he saw Lily point her finger at him and start laughing. The woman he betrayed was standing there pointing her finger at him, not accusatory, not in anger, but in mirth. He really had to stop jumping at familiar faces if he was to survive Hogwarts without a heart attack or aneurysm.

"You're a funny one" Lily giggled and the boys joined in the laughter as Peter picked himself off the ground and tried to hush them up.

"Feeling better already?" Sirius asked "If I may have the pleasure to be the first to introduce myself, I am Sirius Black, glad to make your acquaintance."

"And I am James Potter, what ails you, milady?" James cut in before Sirius could regal her with more nonsense.

"Hi, I'm Lily Evans. I was just having a rather bad morning and was sulking along in another carriage when I heard the commotion and then your laughter and decided to check out what was happening. Glad I did, your friend over there really made me laugh." Lily replied, wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes..

"I'm Peter Pettigrew, and I'm sorry for being a little jumpy today. It's not really been a good morning for me either." Peter added in, offering hand for her to shake, at which point the other two boys quickly offered their hands too, fighting amongst themselves to be the first to shake her hand.

Lily laughed gaily at their antics as a young boy with greasy hair appeared at the door. "Lily, I've been looking for you everywhere. Are you ok?"

James and Sirius stopped horsing around to pay attention to the newcomer while Peter swallowed hard at the sight of Severus Snape.

"I'm ok, Sev. These guys cheered me up, they are a funny bunch. I'm sorry for running off like that, but after what happened with Petunia on the platform, I just needed some time alone. I only came over when I heard the sounds of laughter coming from this compartment. Curiosity won out." Lily replied.

Severus mumbled out something about how kneazles were killed while Lily turned towards the boys and happily declared "This is my best friend, Severus. We are neighbours and we're going to Hogwarts together!" Severus nodded at the introduction and shook James and Sirius' hands.

Peter hung back for a while, trying to get his nerves up to face Severus. To him, Severus was a frightening person. The things Peter saw Severus do for the Dark Lord could sometimes turn his stomach; and Peter felt the things the Marauders had done to him in school most likely drove him down that path, just as the fear for his own life and that of his mother drove him to the Dark Side. He didn't know if he could convince Severus to not become a Death Eater, but maybe if the stimulus for choosing that path was removed…

Peter swallowed hard and reached out to shake Severus' hand. "Err… hi. I'm Peter. Want to join us?" trying for the more friendly approach. If he could get them to be friends, maybe things would be better for everyone involved. Peter was glad he had such a smart idea.

- break -break- break -

Peter was lamenting his terrible idea as James and Severus sat in the compartment arguing about which House was the best. James, clearly angry about how Lucius had treated them just a while ago, was insisting that Slytherin was a House of evil-doers and Dark Lord-wannabes and Sirius was adding much salt and pepper due to his own disagreements with how his own family swayed. Severus was shouting and gesturing things bordering on vulgarities and curses at James and Sirius while trying hard to extol the virtues of Slytherin and put down Gryfinndor, which the two rascals he was arguing with was trying to promote.

Lily was shrinking into a corner of the compartment, clearly uncomfortable at the verbal duelling since she was completely out of her element. She didn't have any knowledge of the subject matter nor of why the boys were so heated and stubborn on their views. Peter knew that was not a position she liked to be in: confused and unable to ask questions.

Peter sighed, he remembered this argument, it made James and Sirius decide that Severus was not a good person before even getting to know him well. Probably was the same for Severus. He was scared sitting there in the compartment, seeing the adult faces of the people he knew superimposed on their eleven year old faces in his mind, faces that reflected the hate and contempt they would have had of him, but he had to do something to change the path of fate. He had been given a second chance (he continually had to remind himself of that to suppress the fear in his mind) and he won't waste it.

"No matter what you say, there has never been a good Slytherin. Anyone sorted into that house is evil and can never be anything else but evil. And th…" Sirius declared at the top of his voice, spittle flying everywhere.

Peter took a deep breath "Err… That's not true. Just because students that are sent to Slytherin House have the attributes of amb….ambition and cunning does not mean they are evil, it just means they will try to be the best at what they are and strive higher. Just because some fall to the temptation of the Dark Arts does not mean everyone in Slytherin is Dark and Evil." He stammered in the middle when he saw four pairs of eyes on him as he cut into Sirius' declaration, but continued.

"Coddleswap! Name one good Slytherin, if not all of them are evil, name one good one." Sirius swore, a bit unhappy at not only being interrupted, but countered.

Peter knew that question would come, he knew Sirius' arguments quite well and over the years in Hogwarts', Remus and Peter had tried to find out in the library if what Sirius kept espousing was true and they did find an answer in their fifth year while James and Sirius were serving a detention. Peter tried to think about what Remus would say in this situation and opened his mouth "Simple. Merlin. Merlin was in Slytherin House and was taught by Salazar Slytherin himself. I quite sure that no one would ever say that Merlin was evil. We even have an award named after him, The Order of Merlin."

"That must be rubbish, where did you get the idea the great Merlin was from Slytherin" Sirius spluttered, getting upset.

Peter knew he had to calm Sirius down before things got way too heated up for him. Peter of all people knew what happens when Sirius gets angry. "It's on his Chocolate Frog card. I'm not lying." Peter made a pacifying motion with his hands.

"Look, James, Sirius, I know that recent events seem to show Slytherin in a bad light due to what the D…d.. dark lord has done," Peter shivered involuntarily when talking about his former master, " but that does not mean that everyone in Slytherin is evil just because of him. It's not as if people think Slytherins are all good because of Merlin, right?"

"And Severus, you said your family were all from Slytherin and you aspire to live up to your family expectations, but you can't deny that there is a bad light being shone on the House right now. You can be the exception, the good Slytherin that proves people wrong, surely that is a cunning enough ambition to aspire to." Peter heaved a sigh as he finished his attempt at intervening in the argument, surprising even himself at his words. Felt good remembering about Remus, Peter thought, the Remus I knew before my mistakes.

Severus stood up "I… will take what you said into advisement. I believe we are nearing the school, so I would like to bring Lily here back to get freshened up before we arrive." And, taking Lily's hand, proceeded to leave the compartment.

Peter saw James about to stick his foot out to trip Severus, clearly still unhappy about the whole thing. Peter knew he had to stop that and quickly kicked out at James' extended foot, making him withdraw it in pain before it contacted with Severus' leg. James stared Peter down for foiling his fun, making Peter cringe a bit at the sight

After Severus and Lily made it out of the compartment safely, James confronted Peter about the 'foot incident', "Why did you do that for, Pete. It was just a harmless prank. Are you trying to defend Slytherins now?"

"James, you tripping him just because you don't like him or that he disagrees with you is wrong. You have to agree that it's not something a 'good' person will do. We are not sorted into Houses yet, so what if you get sorted into Slytherin because of that action? You tell me. What if despite what he said, Severus gets sorted into Gryffindor and you don't. All because of a prank." Peter retorted.

James was shocked into silence and his mouth gaped like a fish, Sirius sat there a bit worried now about where he might be sorted into and Peter just smiled, extremely happy about the confidence he had now that things seemed to be going well.

- break -break- break -

James and Sirius quickly got over their melancholy when the two of them saw the magnificent view of the Castle from the boats. Peter, instead, was paying attention to the moon and noted that it was 3 days till the new moon and that Remus would need to be shackled up in the Shack soon.

Soon they were all standing before the doors to the Great Hall listening to Deputy Headmistress McGonagall _"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room."_

_"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."_

_"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."_(Taken from HP and the Philosopher's Stone)

Then the doors opened up to the familiar Great Hall that Peter missed from both his years as a student and as a rat. He hoped, no prayed, that his confidence and strength to do what is right will sustain and that he will be able to make amends as he walked into the hall with the rest of the first-years.

McGonaggal started the Sorting with a clear Crisp "Aubrey, Betram!"

Peter's mind focused on what to do now that he was confronted with Sorting by the Hat. If it could read his mind and figure out what he had done, it could tell Dumbledore and get him sent to Azkaban for his crimes and for illegal time manipulation or something like that. His confidence began to slip as he thought about it more. He had forgotten about it after all the hullabaloo on the train and began to bite his nails.

"Avery, Victor" "Slytherin"

Peter knew one thing, he had to convince the Hat to not speak of anything to Dumbledore and keep his secrets, he had to stay calm and hide any thoughts of his previous life behind thoughts of his childhood and of what happened on the train. Maybe he could fool the Hat.

"Black, Sirius"

Peter paid enough attention to the proceedings to clap for Sirius as he walked up to the Hat and it was placed on his head by McGonaggal. Sirius' face was scrounged up in tight concentration, most likely in argument with the Hat. Peter took the time to slow his breathing down and let his beating heart slow down to a respectable pace, which he achieved just as the hat screamed out "Gryffindor" and Sirius took the hat off his head and tossed it up into the air, joyful as a dog with a bone (which fit him, Peter thought)

Peter's thoughts drifted again to his dilemma as the sorting continued. He decided to play it safe and 'roll with the flow', or whatever the Muggle phrase was he heard from Lily years ago, and see what the Hat said and if needed, grovel and implore the Hat to not reveal his secrets. Peter was good at that, he felt. And if the Hat could not sense or read his thoughts of his Past life, then so be it. Think Happy Thoughts, worry about sucking up to a Hat later. Convince the Hat to put him into Gryffindor so that he can help his friends and…

Wait. That would be a Hufflepuff thing to do. If he focused on that the Hat would put him into Hufflepuff. No, no, no. What would be a Gryffindor notion to hold on to? Brave thoughts. Couragous Thoughts. Maybe even something foolhardy. Maybe he _should_ tell the Hat about his trip back after all, that's Gryffindor-ish enough. But then it may spoil everything if the Hat told tales on him…

Peter was shaken from his thoughts by James shaking him and shouting into his ear "We got the Evans girl!"

Peter smiled as Lily walked over to the Gryffindor table and looked at James "You do know that neither of us have been sorted and we don't know that we'll be in Gryffindor?"

"We will, I just know it. Sirius is already in and he's already reserved two seats for us there"

Peter sighed and shook his head. Was James really so bad this young? Was he so caught up in finding a person to look up to last time that he didn't realise it? He ignored James' fidgeting as he clapped for a certain "Lupin, Remus" to join Gryffindor.

Soon, for Peter, came the moment of doom.

"Pettigrew, Peter" came the crisp voice of Minerva McGonaggal, and Peter walked up towards the Hat.

Peter clenched his fists in fear as the Hat was lowered unto his head. _Think good thoughts, think brave thoughts _was the mantra he was repeating in his mind. _Think about standing up to Lucius, think about being brave and don't think about the past._

_Hmm… The past? Let's see now._ He heard in his mind the voice of the Hat._ Oh Crap…._ He thought. _I'm dead now_.

_So. Trying to make up for your mistakes, eh? Don't worry, I won't let your secret out of the bag, or the hat in this case. I answer only to the Founders, and they have since passed on, so no one will find out. At least not from me_.

_Errr… thanks?_

_Your plan is ambitious and cunning, worthy of Slytherin. Your newfound loyalty to your friends would do you well in Hufflepuff. The daring to take up this challenge to right wrongs, especially wrongs perpetrated by you yourself, is definitely a trait of Gryffindor. Don't really think Ravenclaw is suitable… hmm…_

_I thought I had a choice. I told you to put me with James and Sirius the last… wait a minute. James is sorted after me, which means that you wouldn't have known where to place him yet. Don't tell me you had placed him in Gryffindor because you had placed both Sirius and me there?_

_I don't know, I'm not the Hat that _sorted_ you, I'm the Hat that is _sorting_ you._

_Well, then, in that case if I'm right … _Peter suddenly thought of a good prank to pull_ Give Potter a choice of Slytherin, you should have enough to material to use to support that 'decision', make him sweat a bit. Then for Snape, make him think it through, he may be made for Slytherin, but it may be good for him to not be so … stubborn._

_I'll try. Won't go against their wishes though._

_Thanks._

_But enough chatting, time to sort you_. The hat's mouth opened and declared to the Hall "It'll have to be…."

-Insert Cliff hanger-

_A/N : Please review and suggest which House to put him in. You guys can change my mind on which house to put him, but then it can be quite obvious which is the best house for him to execute his plans. You can provide good arguments as to why._

_Sorry about the delay. work is work is work and the plot bunny didn't hop much._

_It's not easy writing a story (Damn it, Jim, I'm a Engineer, not a Literature student)_


	4. Chapter 4 - Snakes are cool, right?

_Official casting of Disclaimer Spell - Expectro Disclaimus! Don't own anything here except the characters I make._

_Sorry for the wait (and that evil cliffhanger), had to finish tons of work. engineers don't really have that much time to write stories you know..._

_Thoughts in Italics, speech in inverted commas, blah blah.._

**Chapter 4 – Snakes are cool, right?**

"Slytherin!" the voice of the Hat resounded through the Great Hall.

_What? Thought I had a choice in this matter. _Peter screamed in his head at the Hat.

_You do. You didn't make any demands for a specific house, did you? And as I said,_ y_our plan is quite ambitious and cunning, worthy of Slytherin House. Especially that idea for me to try to influence Mr Potter's and Mr Snape's world view, a gem of cunning if I may say so myself. _The Hat replied.

_But… but… how will I… he'll hate me now. And Lucius … my prefect. I'm in so much trouble now. Almost worse then the first time. Surrounded by future death eaters. What have you done!?_ Peter was starting to shake with fear.

_Take your own advice, Mr Pettigrew, you yourself can be the exception to the notion that Slytherin equals evil, the good Slytherin that proves people wrong. Did you not just defend Slytherin a couple of hours ago? Besides, I feel that the person that can truly change Potter's mind cannot be on his side of the divide, and that the person that Mr Snape needs most to stay away from the Dark is an understanding soul. And where better to change the world then with people whose darkest side you have already seen and know? _The Hat said with a hint of a smirk in its voice.

_I hate you. I really do_. Peter whined in his head.

"Mr Pettigrew! You can get off the stool now." The voice of Minerva McGonagall cut through the silence, a silence Peter had not realised had been created by him still seated on the stool.

With a huge sigh, Peter took the Hat off and began to walk to the Slytherin table. As his robes took on the green highlights and the Slytherin badge, Peter looked towards James, then Sirius, only to see the shock and almost a hint of disgust in their faces. _I hate that hat… _Peter thought to himself. _I wonder now if James would even try to hold on to that promise to his mom to take care of me. At least I am not an eleven year old that would have broke down, unable to take being without friends or a familiar face. I have been through worse than this. I need to change all my plans to fit this. I… *sigh*...I'm bad at giving inspirational speeches to myself…_

The sorting continued as Peter looked around for a seat with a space beside him for Severus. The Hat did say that he should help Severus stay away from the Dark, which meant Severus was definitely coming to Slytherin. _New plans, new path. I really hate that Hat._

The Hall began to mumble impatiently as a certain Potter, James was taking just as long under the Hat as Peter did. The scowl on James' face told Peter that he was really unhappy with what the Hat was telling or offering him, but he hoped that James would, in the end, internalise what was being told to him and not be the prat he was when he was in school.

A shout of "Gryffindor" ended that saga and Peter could hear sighs of relief as the sorting continued, but the look that James gave Peter as he walked over to the Gryffindor table was one of confusion and hurt. Peter hoped that did not mean he was going to be the target of Marauder pranks and… and the thought of the Marauders without him in it made his heart feel heavy .

The sorting went on smoothly until "Snape, Severus" sat on the stool.

The hat murmured and muttered softly as it sorted Severus, and at one point Severus turned to look at Peter straight in the eye and Peter saw him give a small nod, whether to him or in response to the Hat's comment, Peter didn't know.

"Slytherin!" the Hat boomed out and Peter saw a few students fall out of their chairs as they were shocked out of their nap. Severus took the Hat off gently and placed it on the stool and walked over to Peter and sat down beside him. "The Hat told me many things, Pettigrew. I don't know if they are true, but it said you will be my friend. I have no idea why that floppy headwear would think that I should deign to be your friend, Pettigrew, but I will…consider it"

"Err.. Right. I'll let you consider it. But it could be beneficial for us to be friends given we will be in the same dorm for the next seven years and in the same classes until we get to choose electives. I'll have your back if you'll have mine." Peter replied, trying to smile at Severus despite the snarl plastered on the other boy's face.

"That is… rather Gryffindor a statement, I believe" Severus said as a raised eyebrow replaced the snarl on his face before he looked away when Dumbledore took the podium in the front of the Hall.

"Good evening, school. As many of you might already know, I am Headmaster Dumbledore, and I wish to welcome you to Hogwarts' School of Wizardry and Witchcraft. Let me introduce the members of staff this year. We have

Professor Minerva McGonagall for Transfiguration and Head of Gryffindor,

Professor Pomona Sprout for Herbology and Head of Hufflepuff,

Professor Filius Flitwick for Charms and Head of Ravenclaw,

Professor Horace Slughorn for Potions and Head of Slytherin,

Professor Silvanus Kettleburn for Care of Magical Creatures,

Professor Antony Hewish for Astronomy,

Professor Cuthbert Binns for History of Magic,

New arrived Professor Latimer Tenebrarum for Defence Against the Dark Arts,

Profe.."

Peter tuned out the staffing list announcement, not truly interested as he could tell with a glance that there was no difference in staffing from his previous life. Looking over at the Gryffindor table, he could see Sirius and James whispering to each other while pointing in the direction of the Slytherin Table. Most likely they were talking about him and where he ended up. Peter really hoped they didn't hate him now, their prejudices and all. That would _really_ make things hard.

"Now on to announcements, " Dumbledore's voice droned on, "Mr Pringle, the caretaker wishes for me to inform you that wandering the halls after curfew now carries a punishment of 3 strokes of the cane to discourage any hanky-panky after-hours in any closet, broom or not. Any and all of Zonko's brilliant inventions are banned from use within the halls and classrooms, failure to comply will result in punishment meted out by Mr Pringle according to the severity of the offence. This year, the School is graced by the planting of a rare and valuable Whomping Willow on the school grounds. All students are reminded to not approach the tree frivolously as it may not appreciate your presence. It is a great treasure of Herbological nature and must be treated as such."

Peter's eyes flickered to Remus, seated at the Gryffindor table, at Dumbledore's mention of the Willow. Peter wouldn't be roomed with him anymore and that made Peter sad and resolute to try to find a way to meet and befriend him. Hope that James and Sirius doesn't corrupt him too much, but then Remus has always been the more sensible and understanding one.

"Now, it's time to sing our School Song" Dumbledore declared and, with a wave of his wand, made the lyrics appear in the air for everyone to see. "Pick any tune you like and sing along"

Peter stood up to sing the Hogwarts school song, and despite the laughter and merriment of the song being sung around him, Peter's thoughts were far away. Looking around him, he saw the few First Years that would be with him in Slytherin, Severus, of course, Victor Avery, Lucinda Bulstrode, Ursula Fawley, Thorfinn Rowle, Stanley Volant and Natalie Davens. All of them looked rather happy to be in Slytherin, or at least Hogwarts.

As the song ended with a spectacular firework display from Dumbledore's wand, Peter sat down and started to eat the food that had appeared on the tables. After a while, Peter noticed that Severus was not eating much, and was instead only nibbling at his food.

"Severus, is something wrong? I mean, you aren't hungry?" Peter asked

"None of your business, Pettigrew. Leave me alone." Severus muttered harshly, his trademark scowl on his face.

"W..we are still dorm mates, even if you don't want to be friends, Severus. I do not wish to have to carry your ass to the infirmary when you wake up one day unable to go to class due to you not eating anything." Peter shot back, a bit shaky at first, but picking up strength as he got into 'gear'.

Severus looked at Peter straight in the eye for a few seconds before commenting "Nonetheless, it is not for you to question why I am unused to such copious amounts of food presented to me. I will ensure you need not assist me due to malnutrition.", then turned away, slowly picking up a chicken leg to put on his plate.

Realising that Severus had answered him, somewhat, without making it sound like he did, Peter shrugged and continued to attack the spaghetti bolognaise he had in front of him.

Soon, dinner was over and the students were sent to their dorms, led by the house prefects. Peter walked at the back of the group of Slytherin first-years, trying not to draw attention from Lucius Malfoy, which was strutting in front of the group, haughtily leading the firsties to the Slytherin dorms in the dungeon.

When they finally reached the entrance to the Slytherin dorms, Lucius Malfoy turned to face all of them and announced with a sneer "Welcome to Slytherin, this will be your home for the next seven years and I hope all of you will live up to the name of our great founder, Salazar Slytherin." and with a look directed at Peter, added "I suggest you all listen to the Prefects or you will get into a lot of trouble and any point lost by any one of you reflects badly on the entire house, and that is not acceptable at all."

Looking back over the group, Lucius waved his hand over a blank wall and intoned "_puritatem sanguis_" and a section of the wall opened up to the Slytherin Common Room. "Remember the password well and never tell another soul outside of Slytherin. The password will change every fortnight, with new passwords posted on the notice board by Friday the week before. It is your responsibility to check and remember. I will not suffer any fools that forget or fail to check"

The First Years shuffled through the doorway and into the room, but Peter felt someone pull him aside just before he walked through the door and found Lucius Malfoy face to face with him, scowling.

"You would do well to respect your betters, boy. Or else, I will make life hell for you here in Slytherin. You have no idea the resources I have to make sure of it!"

Peter flinched away at the closeness of Lucius' face to his and also the spittle flying from the blonde's mouth into his eyes.

"I.. I mean.. You...d...d...on't ss…scare me, M...Malfoy. I...I…I know y…you can make m...m….my life a living h...hell, but there's no w...way I will let you bully me or my f.. friends. " Peter fought the instinct to run and stared the fifth year straight on, albeit stammering a bit.

"You sound like a Gryffindor, boy. That's not going to get you anywhere in this House. This is the house of cunning, not foolish bravery."

"No, it isn't. But neither is it a house of s…s...simpering weaklings that bow and g…grovel to superior might, Slytherin is a house of the ambitious, not a house of s...s...suck-ups." Peter tried his best to stand up straight, but he was sure his knees were shaking at this point.

"You little…"

"I'm sure t...the other students are wondering what you are doing with me outs...side the dorm. W...wouldn't want any rumours to s...start, now would we?" Peter interjected quickly, pulled himself from Lucius' hold and walked briskly into the Slytherin Common Room.

Peter had been in the dungeon-like common room before, but he never really had the chance to properly admire the green-tinged stone suite before. He had only visited this place in rat form for prank purposes in the past and thus never did have any time to have a good look around.

Dark green button-tufted, leather sofas were all placed around the main fireplace, skulls and snake sculpture adorned almost all the walls and dark wood cupboards lined the far corner. Tapestries of people in Medieval dress hung in the many alcoves along the passage to the actual dormitories.

Peter heard Lucius storm in after him and quickly scampered to the back of the group of firsties who all were standing around looking for directions. Lucius saw Peter and was about to open his mouth to say something when the Common Room door opened behind him and Professor Slughorn entered.

"Ah, yes. First Years, sit down. Good job bringing them all here in such quick order, Mr Malfoy. Good work. Yes, yes" Slughorn rattled on waving his hand in a dismissive manner to Lucius. Lucius took the hint, turned and left, though his eyes stayed on Peter till he turned the corner into the fifth year dorm rooms.

"Okay, boys and girls. Welcome to Slytherin. I hope you all will do us proud and add to the House Points for Slytherin both academically and in extra-curricular activities. I'm sure you all want to rest now, so I will hold a meeting with all of you tomorrow evening and answer any questions you have. But for now, rest. Your things have been brought up to your rooms by the House Elves, so I'll bid you all a happy night in your new home away from home. Yes, yes…" Slughorn clapped his hands and stood to leave as the students around Peter began to scatter to the dorms.

Peter walked slowly to his dorm room, constantly looking around in fear of Lucius pulling an ambush. When he finally made it there, he flopped down onto the bed with his trunk in front of it and let go of the breath he had been holding for a while now.

Peter looked around the room as the sounds of the lake water outside the windows soothed his frayed nerves. Severus was sitting on his bed all alone, Thorfinn Rowle were trying to negotiate a change of beds with Victor Avery and Stanley Volant had already fallen asleep, or at least pretended to be.

This was really not going to plan and Peter didn't know how to make a new one now that everything is going to be so different from what he knew.

_Thanks for the reviews and comments._

_hwyla - Yes, I did intend for the fact that the Marauders (if there even is a Marauder group anymore) would be short a rat. But I am writing this with the notion and basis of Peter not ever choosing to be a DE again, given the chance, not making the same mistakes and trying to finally do what is right. though it IS hard for me to stick to his charatcer and yet do that. So forgive me, everyone, if Peter doesn't sound like Peter sometimes._

_Prof Radar - Hey, a cliffhanger is always fun. I don't know if I was seeming as if I would put him in Gryffindor, just that I believe that Peter WOULD try to get into Gryffindor to prove to himself and all his thoughts and actions on the train is meant to shown that he felt he should have been in Gryffindor. But then, wouldn't be fun, would it? And I'm sorry if the whole choice thing with the Hat is different as to how I see the Hat's decisions, but I do personally see that James is not fully Gryffindor and Severus is not fully Slytherin. Sirius IS wholly Gryffindor to me, by the way. Maybe we differ on that._


	5. Chapter 5 - Hungry like a wolf

_Standard Expecto Disclaimus - I don't own Harry Potter, blah blah blah_

_Sorry for the lateness. Work and real life stuff happens when you're not a professional writer. And even then I don't think they are immune either._

_I'm sorry if any of the events in this chapter seems rushed or things go back too unexplained, but i think I had planned for too much to be in this chapter and trying to squeeze it all in is not easy._

**Chapter 5 – Hungry like a wolf**

Peter woke up drowsily, wondering where he was. The green linings of the curtains around the bed he was on and the soft silky sheets made him wonder why he was sleeping in Malfoy Manor's guest rooms and not the dungeons below, watching over the prisoners and… wait. Huh?

Peter jolted up in his bed and looked around frantically. Only after seeing all the other sleeping students around him did his mind finally register that he was in the Slytherin First year boys dorm and having his second chance at life. "Not a dream, then. That's good. Though I don't know how being in Slytherin is not a nightmare." Peter muttered to himself.

_You yourself can be the exception to the notion that Slytherin equals evil, the good Slytherin that proves people wrong. _His words to Snape that the Hat threw back at him echoed again through his mind. How can he, an ex-traitor, a rat and a coward be something like that? Sure, he fought back verbally against Lucius, he told off James, he even tried to get the Hat to 'talk' to James and Snape, but to be an example?

Peter never did like any kind of limelight, any form of standing out from the crowd. He liked to be in the shadows, be it behind someone else's or using it to cover up the things he did. He was the least likely candidate to be a shining example, let alone an example of a Slytherin.

Peter sighed and looked around to find he was the only one up so far, so he quietly left the room and headed out to the Common Room. A few older Slytherins were already in the Common room, either by the fireplace or by the book shelf studying. Peter waved to the people in the room, but none of them even gave a hint of seeing him, let alone respond. Dejected, Peter walked over to the notice board and saw the first year timetable up on the board.

"Transfiguration with Minnie at nine, break till lunch, Herbology at two, they actually placed eleven year old kids in a greenhouse in the afternoon sun? Probably because Snakes are cold blooded, huh? And I thought the Gryffindor timetables were bad." Peter muttered as he read the timetable.

Peter looked around again and tried to catch the attention of one of the older students "Sorry," Peter asked once one sixth year who finally looked his way "how can I get a copy of the timetable for myself"

"What do I get in return for telling you that?" The sixteen year old asked, raising an eyebrow at Peter

"Huh? You need something in return?" Peter asked, not needing to even fake the surprise and disbelief.

"You're new here, so I'll give you this bit of information for free. In Slytherin, everything comes at a price. Any information or service provided is to be paid in kind. Secrets are the most common commodity traded, followed by favours owed. Take it as training for when you enter the Real World out there, when favours and information is the way to get ahead in life. So…. What can you offer me to tell you where to get a copy?" The sixth-year said casually with a raised eyebrow.

Peter was luckily not an actual eleven-year old and was not shocked at the notion of such bargaining occurring, he just didn't think it would happen within the House and to firsties at that. "Right, I don't think any secret I have is worth such a minor favour, so I promise to perform a task for you in the future that is of a mutually agreed similar worth to the task of you providing me copies of the first year timetable or information as to the method to obtain said copies." Peter said as he looked back at the sixth-year without flinching, thanking God that he picked up a lot of contract skills from hanging out with purebloods like Malfoy and even Potter.

"Hmm… a firstie worth his salt. It is agreed then. I'm Bertrand Stroller, by the way, and I'll collect on that task from you soon." Bertrand told Peter as he nodded his head in an approving manner. Bertrand took out his wand and cast the _Gemino_ spell on the timetable, creating a copy of it in his hand. "Here you go. You can cast the exact same spell if you need to make copies for your friends, though I would avdise you to ask them for something in return first. Don't want them to think you're a pushover or spoil the 'market', so to speak, for favour-brokering."

With a two-fingered wave at Peter, Bertrand turned and walked off. Peter looked at the copy in his hand and sighed. Surviving Slytherin was going to be a pain if there was going to be so much politicking. Going to an empty alcove and casting the duplication spell on the timetable himself without being noticed, Peter made enough to give out to his year group.

_I know a lot more spells that even the seventh years here,_ Peter thought, _I could have duplicated the timetable myself, but if Slytherin House works as Bertrand says it does, then I should use my knowledge as a secret advantage to hold my own here in this House. And hiding what I can do from others is something I have had years of experience doing. Now to pull off something Remus did once long time ago.._.

Peter went back to his dorm with his stack of timetables and saw that the others in his room were beginning to awaken. With a smile, Peter showed the stack of timetables to the boys "I got us our timetables, guys. You lot owe me if you want one" he declared.

"What kind of favour, Pettigrew?" Victor Avery asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at Peter.

"Nothing much, Avery. I would just like in return for you to pass me a copy of your notes for today's DADA class. Notes for Charms from you, Rowle, Transfiguration from you, Volant, and Potions from you, Snape. I will not ask for anything that will compromise family secrets or cause bodily harm, no worries." Peter replied with a sly smile.

Drowsy grunts of agreement were the only replies Peter got as the boys took a timetable off him each and proceeded to freshen up. Peter picked up his bag, packed his books and proceeded down to the common room, happy that things were going his way so far.

As he reached the common room Peter saw that the girls had all woken up and were crowded around the timetable on the notice board, looking at it. Peter walked up to them and said "I got a copy of that right here, girls. I'll pass you a copy if you pass me a copy of your notes for tomorrow's lessons"

"Trying to rip us off, Pettigrew?" Ursula Fawley scowled at Peter, "Why should we do you a favour? I'll go ask one of the seniors where to get a copy." Fawley then stormed off in the direction of one of the female prefects.

"Suits me just fine, Fawley." Peter said. "Bulstrode? Davens?"

The other two girls looked at each other, shrugged, nodded and took the timetable from Peter. "Can I get notes for tomorrow's Astronomy and COMC classes from you two, you two arrange who does which, I don't care." Peter said, to which the two girls agreed.

Just as the other first year boys appeared out of their dorm room, Ursula stormed back to Peter, her face black as the bottom of a cauldron, "Fine, I'll take your offer, Pettigrew. Those stupid senior students want more than I can give."

"Since you so nicely rejected my offer just now, Fawley, I will pass you a copy in return for a copy for your notes for both History of Magic _and_ Herbology." Peter smiled sweetly at her.

"What? Two subjects?" Ursula balked

"That's what happens when you reject an offer and return to accept it later, Fawley."

"You… you.." Ursula snatched up the last timetable from Peter's hand and stormed off.

As the rest of his year-mates walked over to the portal out of the Common Room, Peter began to feel rather uncomfortable at the ease he pulled his timetable scheme off, especially the way he handled Stroller. Did he just pick up too many things from being with the Death Eaters for so long that he could scheme as good as any of them, since they were all mostly Slytherins, has his own morals fallen so far that he didn't even bat an eyelid as doing this to his year mates? Or was it that him wearing green and silver has changed him overnight? He was thinking like a Slytherin, acting like a Slytherin, was this the true him? The scheming, betraying, lying rat? Would the Hat have placed him here if he never said anything the first time round? Was the Hat right _this_ time round? It can't be that the Slytherin Dorm itself tries to confound students into becoming 'perfect' Slytherins, right?

Peter shook off his musings and followed the mess of green and silver out of the Common Room to the Great hall for breakfast. He caught up with Severus after much squeezing and scampering, which was hard with all the moving staircases causing pile-ups of students waiting to proceed, and walked beside him. "Morning, Snape. Hope you slept well." Peter quipped.

"I see what you are trying to do, Pettigrew." Severus whispered to Peter as they entered the Great Hall. "Trying to create a powerbase within the House on day one may backfire on you. I have been told by my mom tha…"

Peter halted in his tracks to see why Severus stopped talking and saw him looking over to the Gryffindor table. Peter moved behind Severus and peeked over Severus' shoulder to see what he was staring at. Peter realised that Severus was staring right at Lily and the fact Lily was laughing at some joke and looking very happy at the Gryffindor table was what caused Severus, the normally unflappable bat that Peter knew, to actually stop in his tracks and stare open-mouthed at the scene.

Peter knew rather well how much Severus liked Lily. James had whined about it for long enough in his past life. Then-Peter just wanted to impress James and thought Severus was a disgusting stalker to Lily; now-Peter, older and more understanding on Severus as a person, thought he had the short end of the stick when it came to his relationship, or lack thereof, with Lily.

Peter put his arm on Severus' shoulder and told him "She's still your friend, you know, just give others a chance to know the wonderful person that she is. Rather selfish to be only one to see her smile or talk to her, right? Besides, you can always see here in-between classes or when we have classes together."

Severus turned to face Peter so violently that Peter's arm was thrown off and Peter stumbled back a few steps as Severus' left eyebrow raised up to a dangerous height. "Do not assume to know the workings of my mind, Pettigrew. Do not presume in any way, form or manner that you can even envisage my musings, let alone attempt to peddle your notions unto me"

Peter cleared his throat in an attempt to find back some level of personal dignity before saying anything, noticing that Severus' outlash had begun to draw attention to them. "I don't presume anything, Snape. But I would like to kindly point out that I also have friends there over at that table. And if we continue, they will look over and see us shouting at each other. Don't really want that to happen on the first morning we come to Hogwarts, do we? Why don't we just err… walk over and say hi, be friendly and remind our respective friends that we don't hold on to inter-house rivalries and still see them as friends?"

"That… is… an acceptable proposal" Severus replied, his face went back to a calm façade almost instantaneously. "Let us proceed."

Severus and Peter walked over to the Gryffindor table together, with Peter regretting his words more and more as they came closer to their destination. He also noticed the Great Hall becoming more silent with each step they took as more students saw what was happening.

Only when they reached the Gryffindor table did the first year Gryffindors see them and turn towards them.

"Lily," Severus said "I hope you had a good night's rest. I apologise that I am unable be in the same House as you, but I assure you that I am still your friend and will be always available for any revision regime you may want to implement."

"James and Sirius," Peter joined in "Morning to you two, I'm sorry that I'm not in the same House as you two, but I assure you that I won't forget our friendship and will not hold you to the promise your mom got you to make since we are not together in the same House."

Lily looked at the two Slytherins smiled and was about to say something when James stood up with his wand drawn and pointed at Peter, shouting "Go away, I don't want anything to do with you snakes. _Rópalo mýxa _!"

Peter winced as he recognised the Bat-Bogey Hex from his days at the Weasleys watching Ginevra Weasley cast it on her brothers on an almost-daily rate.

"_Protego_" a loud shouted echoed through the Hall and a shield blocked the hex before it reached either Peter or Severus. "What do you think you are doing, boy? Casting hexes in the Great Hall at breakfast? Ten points from Gryffindor! Atrocious! Meet me in my office now!" Minerva McGonaggal shrieked as she rushed over from the Head Table.

Peter sighed. It was such a good idea he had, but seemingly James' prejudices were a bit too inset for them to change literally overnight. It was going to take a LOT of work to get him and Sirius to change. And, this time, he had two targets for his dislike as opposed to just a single 'Snivellus', so this may just take a long while worth of growing up on his part.

As James and Sirius marched off with McGonaggal, Peter looked to Lily and apologised "Sorry for my friends. I'm sure they will grow out of this childishness soon." Lily looked at Peter and blinked, unsure of what to make of all this, especially with Severus beside him unsuccessfully holding back a smirk.

With a bow, Peter took his leave of the Gryffindor table before any other Gryffindor decided to take revenge or something. Severus followed soon behind him after making sure Lily was alright.

They were set upon by Lucius when they reached back to the Slytherin table. "I highly suggest you two behave yourself and not disgrace the House of Slytherin. Going over to the Gryffindor table by yourselves and creating trouble is not cunning, not ambitious, it's sheer stupidity. I should take points just…"

"But we didn't create trouble did we, Malfoy? We went over and did absolutely nothing that can be declared as trouble, in full view of the entire school, yet get two Gryffindors into trouble, lost Gryffindor ten points before the first lesson even started, making them start the school year in the negative then walk back to the Slytherin table unscathed and having the moral high ground in the eyes of the student populace. If we truly planned all that, are we not cunning? And is not the plan itself ambitious?" Peter replied, trying to steady his voice and stare Lucius in the eye. It even felt good to use a lot of the tricks Lucius himself taught Peter in truth-spinning against Lucius.

Lucius blinked and spluttered as he tried to think of a comeback, which Peter took advantage of to scamper away with Severus to the far corner of the table. "Hope you're ok at all the chaos that happened. Sorry that my friends are like that. I'll see what I can do to make them less… prejudiced"

"Immature is the word I would have used," Severus said, a smirk on his face "but I am not displeased with the result of our endeavour." Severus smiled to towards the Gryffindor table.

Peter turned around to look at the Gryffindor table to see Lily looking over apologetically with Remus beside her most likely trying to explain James' and Sirius' action to her. "They will grow up." He said resolutely "I'll help you with your friend if you will help with mine, scoundrels though they are." Peter said to Severus as they started to eat the bacon and eggs in front of them

"Maybe, Pettigrew, if I deem it worth my time…" Severus replied.

- break -break- break -

The day passed rather easily for Peter, especially since his notes for the day was being taken for him. James and Sirius refused to even look his way for the entire day, but Peter didn't really blame them, they were rather hard work young, and he should know. He just hoped he would have a chance to get them to listen to him before they get set into their 'we hate snakes, they are all Dark' mentality

After watching Match-to-needle transformations, McGonaggal's animagus transformation (which he realised he was instinctively afraid of and needed to actively stop himself from running out of the room while she was in her cat form), doing Wand-lighting charms and going through all the other first year lesson, Peter was going crazy.

Peter wasn't the best student nor the sharpest mind in the world, but even Peter was completely frustrated at needing to re-do his First Year, so he tried to help the others students, but was rebuffed constantly due to either a fear of a Slytherin sabotage or fear of owing Peter yet another favour. Peter, in the end, just sat in each of his classes and thought over what he could do now that he was in the wrong House, James disliked him and he seemed to be becoming more Slytherin each day.

It was only during the Astronomy class on Friday that he realised what how to start his plan of making up to his friends, or at least to one of them. It was the full moon on Saturday and that meant that the Shrieking Shack would be populated. Peter had not tried to transform since his miraculous return to the past in fear of being unable to do it or, worse, failing terribly and getting some physical trauma for his efforts, but the chance to be with Remus on his first ever transformation in Hogwarts' was something he felt was worth the effort of trying and will definitely help him in his own plans if he can perhaps reach out to Remus, be it as Wormtail or as Peter.

When the Astronomy class ended at one in the morning, most students started planning recreational activities for the weekend on the way back to their Common Rooms. Peter, on the other hand started to think of which classroom would be empty for him to practice his animagus transformations in, for he was tired tonight and trying while tired gave a certain degree of uncertainity. He had to make sure he could still turn into Wormtail else Remus would be not only alone for the next two days with his 'furry little problem', Remus could be alone till James and Sirius find out next year, if they even do this time round without Peter.

The next morning, the only thing on Peter's mind was the transformation he needed to try out and thus he ignored all his year-mates at breakfast, which Severus, being primarily an introvert, didn't mind. Though Peter could hear Ursula starting a rumour that Peter was plotting his next coup of favours owed and strengthen his powerbase in Slytherin. Of course, Peter leaving the Hall without a word after breakfast did not help his case any.

Peter entered Classroom 5B and locked the door behind him. This classroom was, during his time here, virtually unused and served as the place he always ran into to escape trouble from his third year onwards. Peter hoped that familiar territory would help him transform.

He didn't even know if coming back in time changed anything, but animagus transformations were fundamentally focused on the finding of one's animal 'self' and the envisioning of the transformation between human and animal. The Intent and the Imagining counted more that the Implementation, which was the actual physical shifting of bones and muscular mass. Since he already knew the Intent and had the Imagining down pat, all he need to know is if his eleven-year old body could take the strain of the transformation.

Sitting down on the floor, Peter closed his eyes and thought of the all-familiar form of Wormtail, the brown-grey fur, the wormy tail, the twitching nose and the sharp fore-teeth. Gathering and holding the image of Wormtail in his mind beside an image of himself as a eleven year old, he focused on slowly on shifting his human form's features to that of Wormtail's features, the hands and feet first, then the nose and mouth, followed by the spine and ribs, then lastly the tail…

Peter opened his eyes and smiled as he noticed what was in front of him. The tables and chairs all around him were towering over him and a distinctly familiar snout twitched in front of his eyes. Peter scampered towards the window and looked into his reflection in the glass to check his transformation. It has taken longer than normal to transform, but all was well. Peter was elated for Wormtail walked the corridors of Hogwarts again.

Peter's change of mood was evident to all in the Slytherin Common Room when he returned, this led Ursula to give him a wide berth for she was convinced that he had finally come up with a plan to take over control over the rest of the firsties. Peter spent the rest of the day playing chess with the unofficial Slytherin Chess Club and won quite a few matches, being a pet to a good chess player allowed him to learn quite a lot. The afternoon was spent with Severus in the Library studying, which didn't interest Peter much and he would have declined if not for the fact Severus had asked Lily to meet him there too.

Friending Lily, helping Severus with his relationship with Lily and ensuring that James and Sirius did not try to bully Severus were all on Peter's lists of priorities, so Peter went along with him and after an hour with Severus and Lily realised how much Lily was like Hermione Granger in her voracious appetite for knowledge and how much time Severus spent looking at Lily.

In Peter's mind, Lily Evans would always become Lily Potter, but now presented with what was happening, Peter wonders if his actions has changed all that and if so, what did that mean for Harry Potter's birth and Voldermort's eventual downfall? Things just kept getting more complicated for Peter.

The thoughts of Lily and Snape's closeness plagued Peter's thoughts all through the rest of the afternoon, evening and supper. Should he try to push her back towards James? Should he leave things alone? He felt so powerless against the inexorable tide of these crazy things happening around him, all these unfamiliar things that should be otherwise in his mind.

As night fell over the castle, a small brown rat scuttled out of the Slytherin Common room and headed out towards the Whomping Willow. That same rat ran speedily through the many lazy swings of the Willow's branches to hit him and, within seconds, a boy's fist slammed against a knot on the tree and all was still.

Howls could be heard echoing through the passageway as Peter walked slowly towards the Shrieking Shack via the secret tunnel. Peter had to quickly transform into Wormtail to hide behind a rock formation as Madam Pomfrey came around a bend in the passageway muttering "Poor boy, wish I could do more for him, such a young boy…" Once Madam Pomfrey exited the tunnel, Peter scuttled forwards to the end of the tunnel.

Only to be met by a huge furry drooling mess of teeth and claws looming over him.

_Thanks for the reads and the reviews. I don't have time to address last chapters' reviews in full detail but I'm glad you guys like this story and I hope you will like where I will be taking this._

_I apologize that I will take time to write up the story and post it, but I promise to continue writing and won't disappear suddenly without notice._

_Jeff out._


	6. Chapter 6 - All the better to friend you

_Sorry for the huge delay. I do try to write all this, but I'm not fast and I honestly don't plan my stories to that much detail that I don't have to wait for a plot bunny to run into a tree and fall at my feet._

_And as usual: Expecto Disclaimus - Blah Blah. I don't own Harry Potter. Sigh Sigh._

**Chapter 6 – All the better to friend you, my dear**

Peter squeaked-screamed as Remus bared his fangs at him and growled, drool spluttering all around Peter as Remus' bad breath invaded Peter's sensitive nostrils. Scrambling and scuttling desperately to the far end of the room, Peter began to think that he should never execute any of his 'good ideas' ever again; he was always a better follower of other people's plans than a crafter of schemes that worked.

Peter dived behind a table leg and shut his eyes, awaiting the pain that would most likely come once Remus tore through the table and got to him. The werewolf's growls echoed in Peter's eardrums, drowning out his own screams. Seconds passed, then a minute, and the growls stopped, leaving only Peter's squeaking and the jangling of something metallic.

Peter, now very out of breath, stopped screaming, opened his eyes and heaved a sigh of relief as he saw that Remus was chained to the wall and could not reach him at all. Plopping down on the ground as his shivering legs gave way, Peter thanked Madam Pomfrey's chaining skills and resolved to read up on spells that could impede werewolves in a similar manner for future use. And maybe a spell to clean up one's pants would be good too.

The werewolf strained at his bindings as he watched the little rat slowly plod across the room towards him. The smell of the rat seemed strange, unnatural even, and that caused hairs on his haunches to stand. He raged at the not-rat, roaring, snapping and growling at the creature he did not understand, a creature that defied the logic the werewolf's animalistic side was used to. No smaller and weaker creature would willingly approach a bigger and stronger one, even if the bigger one was restrained, inconceivably unnatural and it worried the werewolf.

The rat looked around the place, completely ignoring the werewolf's attempts at intimidation. Scampering around, it grabbed up various loose pieces of wood and straw and seemed to arrange them on the floor in front of the werewolf but just out of reach of the lupine creature. As the rodent zipped around, the werewolf just stared dumbly at it, completely confused, yet enraptured by the actions of this curious animal.

Finally, Peter finished what he was aiming to do and hoped that Remus' mind was not so subsumed by the wolf's that the message didn't get across. Looking at the wolf, then at the letters F-R-I-E-N-D that he had made up of the rubbish lying around the Shack, Peter raised his paws in a sign of peace, wondering if the wolf would understand it, and slowly stepped towards the wolf gingerly.

The werewolf looked at the funny lines and curves the rat laid out on the floor of his lair, was the rat trying to claim territory in front of his face? _Preposterous!_ The lycanthrope roared at the rodent with all his might, trying to assert its supremacy.

Peter sighed. Yup, yet another 'good idea' down the drain. He scampered back to the far corner near the table he hid behind earlier and gathered his thoughts as Remus raged away at him. Remus without Wolfsbane Potion was such hard work, even at this age, *especially* at this age when the wolf inside him was still young and rebellious. _Time for one last 'good idea'_, Peter thought, _and if this doesn't work, I am not having any more ideas again for a while. _Peter scuttled out of the Shrieking Shack through one of the holes in the walls and ran as fast as he could into the forest behind the Shack.

The werewolf's snout curled up in a lupine grin. He had succeeded in chasing that territorial usurper off and there would be nothing to interrupt his howling to the moon. Yes, this new place is much better than the previous lair, the air was codler and the moon was much clearer. He was still chained, but soon, soon he will be strong enough to break free and run with a pack. Yes, much better.

Peter ran through the forest and, following his nose, easily found a lone rabbit foraging for food. Peter quietly transformed back to his human form and stunned the rabbit without much trouble and picked up the poor creature to carry it back to the Shack. Once he neared the Shack, Peter shifted back into Wormtail and started to push the stunned rabbit through the door.

The werewolf sniffed the air, catching a scent that it did not recognise_. _Another trespasser on his land? How dare the inhabitants of this new land treat him with such disrespect! He growled dangerously and raised his haunches. When the not-rat appeared pushing a rabbit, the lycanthrope calmed down a bit and smiled a toothy smile. _Ahh… tribute. I must have scared him more than I thought. _The werewolf approved of his new underling and once the rabbit was within reach, the werewolf gobbled it up in a single bite.

Peter watched as Remus ate his supper and hoped that would sooth the savage beast some. Knowing how Remus looked the morning after the first time he transformed in Hogwarts', Peter hoped that providing him some accompaniment and food would help ease his monthly trial this time round, at least till Wolfsbane was invented a few years down the road. Yawning, Peter took his leave of the lycanthrope so that he could get some sleep this night, God knows that Remus wouldn't.

Sneaking back to the Slytherin Dorms, Peter scampered back unto his bed and transformed back, noting sadly the howling in the distance before closing his eyes and letting sleep embrace him.

- break -break- break -

Daybreak.

The sun shone down on a small abandoned house in Hogsmede as a young boy awoke with a bone in his mouth. He blinked and spat the bone out unto the floor of the small shack he was in. He looked himself over and was surprised to see no scars or injuries on him.

Usually the wolf would trash against its bindings and claw at itself to get free of whatever shackled it, causing many scars and bruises on his chest and arms, nothing some dittany wouldn't heal in seconds, but to see nothing…

Then he saw what he had spit out unto the floor and the blood drained from his face. But when he tried to look around for more clues as to what happened the night before was when he saw something that floored him literally. Six letters on the floor made out of sticks and dried grass. Six letters that sparked off numerous questions in his mind.

Peter groggily awoke to a rather noisy boys' dormitory. He yawned loudly and he sat up straight on his bed. "What is happening now? It's a Sunday, we're supposed to sleep in on Sundays." he muttered to no one in particular.

"Pettigrew, finally deigning to return to the world of the living and awake, huh?" Victor sniggered. "It's already eleven in the morning. You missed breakfast already and we were just about to start a pool on whether you would miss lunch too."

Peter just waved off Avery's comment and started to head to the bathroom to freshen up when he heard Severus' voice from behind him. "I will be attending to revision in the Library. Should you find yourself free of the languor of your torpor, you are welcome to join us."

'Us', Peter noted, meaning Severus would not be alone, which meant most likely Lily would be there too. Peter wondered if this happened the last time around, did Lily actually have study sessions with Severus which caused James to further dislike him or did his own actions cause things to shift for their relationship? This was not going to make things easier for his own plans to get James and Sirius to be friendly again.

After washing up and getting dressed, Peter was approached by Avery and Volant. "Pettigrew, you want to head down to the Quidditch pitch and try some pick-up games? We snuck some shrunken brooms into school, enough for a small game." Volant asked.

"No, sorry. Flying isn't really my thing. You lot have fun, yeah? I'll most likely be trying to read through all the class notes I got from you guys. Some of your handwriting's atrocious."

"Right, your scheme with the timetables and notes. Was a good one, but seemed a bit unfair to the rest of us after I thought it through. You planning any more of these schemes?"

_Unfair? You could have just taken parchment and quill and copied it straight from the board by hand but you lot probably think that is beneath you to do such labour. Not my fault._ Peter thought to himself. "Scheme? It's a fair favour for favour transaction. Nothing unfair about it, let alone scheming. Anyway, how about this, Volant, I pass you notes for the week's Transfiguration lessons and you pass me your notes for this week's Charms. Is that fair enough for you? Class notes for Class notes? And you Avery, I'll pass you Potions for Herbology."

The two boys looked at each other and then at Peter. "No tricks?" they said together.

"I held up my end of our previous deal with my 'timetable scheme', as you call it. And it's not as if you really need to go out of your way to do it, right? 'Tis all perfectly on the up and up, old chap." Peter replied with a small smirk.

"Fine. Deal. You sure you don't want to play some Quidditch and not get caught up with all this mugging so early in the school year?" Avery asked, clearly showing where his mind was on.

"It's ok. Besides I missed breakfast. Wouldn't be good if I played on an empty stomach anyway."

"Fine by me." Avery shrugged and left with Volant, presumably to the Quidditch pitch.

By the time Peter left to meet Severus in the library, he has brokered deals for virtually all the notes for all his classes from his classmates in return for notes on another class, notes that he would have gotten from someone else already. Peter wondered all the way to the Library why no one ever did this before.

Peter sat down on the study table beside Snape "Sorry I took a while, was arranging my notes for the week. By the way, can you pass me your notes for the week's Potion lessons and I'll pass you notes for the week of a class of your choice." Peter grinned a cheesy smile at Severus.

Severus turned his head slowly towards Peter, raising his trademarked Eyebrow of Belittlement of Others "Is this offer akin to your attempted scheme last week? I do hope that you have a modicum of the extent of the gears you have set into motion."

"You're scarily sounding like an adult talking to his child, Severus, where did you learn to talk like that?"

"I…. read"

"Read…" Peter parroted in disbelief

"Yes, read." Severus intoned , raising his Eyebrow of Utter Disparagement.

"Whatever, Sev. Are you up for my offer or not."

"Do not address me as 'Sev', Pettigrew, my proper appellation is 'Severus', and yes, I will take the offer since it does not inconvenience me in any way, form or manner, nor does it irritate me to entertain your notions that we may be more than comrades in our daily endeavours."

"Right…" Peter said softly, completely lost in Severus' words "So where's Lily? I sort of assumed she'll be here with you."

"She is attempting to recruit another Gryffindor into this study group to balance the House representation, maybe even the gender balance. I would not put it past her to start inquiring around for Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff representation too."

"She does know it's like only the first week of school, right? It's not like we are preparing for our NEWTs or OWLs." Peter's face turned a bit green at the thought of doing exams, even though he had passed them once before, studying and taking them again did not make him happy one bit.

"Alas, Lily has a tendency of underestimating her abilities and overestimating the difficulties of the tasks laid down in front of her. It does not do one well to stand in front of her and her studies, she would plow through any obstacle without hesitation nor recognition." Severus smiled.

Peter realised just then that that would have been a perfect description of Hermione Granger too. Had Severus been hard and short-tempered with Granger in the other life because she reminded him of Lily and poured salt on the wound of his loss each day she acted like a know-it-all? It's scary seeing everything in the past with the benefit of knowing the future. Peter was about to say something when Lily arrived with another girl in tow, a girl Peter knew rather well. Mary McDonald.

"Sorry I took so long, needed to convince Mary here that you two won't kidnap and use us for some dark ritual." Lily announced as Mary shot her an irritated pout

"I mean, they are Slytherins. Everyone says they sacrifice animals and stuff at Stonehenge or something. We shouldn't be alone with them" Mary tried to defend herself, albeit poorly, as Severus stared her down for that comment.

Peter stood up and offered his hand to Mary. "Well, it's only the fourth day of school. Us first-year Slytherins have not been corrupted beyond redemption yet, and besides, we don't usually head over to Stonehenge until Spring Solstice. Easier to find animals." Lily giggled as Mary's eyes bulged out in shock.

Peter shrugged and withdrew his unaccepted hand. "You don't have to believe anything 'everyone' says every time, you know. Make up your own mind about us animal-sacrificing snakes yourself." Peter turned to Lily and continued "Maybe you should bring her into our study group some other time? So she has time to adjust to the fact she won't be some virgin sacrifice or something?"

Mary huffed at the obvious poke at her "Well, I'm staying to make sure you two boys don't give Lily here cooties or something. Someone has to look out for her"

With a snort, Severus turned to stare at Mary, "Despite the levity of my companion's verbal banter, I assure you that we are quite serious in our academic revision and I would hope you do not disrupt that with your senseless prattle or inane musings."

Mary sat down at the table indignantly as Peter rolled his eyes at Severus' brilliant P.R. skills and quickly tried to change the topic to a discussion on the weather (first thing that came to mind).

-break-break-

The study session went by relatively calmer than how it started though Mary never did seem to let her guard down around Peter or Severus, and as the group began to pack up for supper, Peter tried to ask Lily about how James and Sirius were.

"They… they are as opinionated as they were on the train when we first met and I think you ending up in Slytherin kind of proved to them that all you said on the train were lies and 'Slytherin tricks'. I think they will grow up, but not so soon. I'm glad at least you and Sev are matured enough to see pass all this petty rivalry. I don't think they are bad boys per se since they are trying their best to visit one of their roommates who became sick yesterday. Poor guy, getting sick just as he comes into school." Lily rambled on as Peter sighed internally, knowing just who the 'poor boy' was. Remus.

"They will grow up. I hope they will. Not everyone goes through a life-changing event in their lives that makes them grow up overnight. And even if they do, some hide all their pain behind a mask of indifference and childishness, a refusal to grow up and face reality." Peter replied.

"You're really matured, Peter, to be able to say something like that. I hope one day you'll tell me what caused you to grow up like that" Lily said, as Mary snorted at the statement.

Peter smiled sadly at Lily. _If only you know the travesties I have done, the pain I have went through and the amount of death I has seen and even caused, maybe you would regret that request_, Peter thought before saying "Ask James. He knows. That way you can also help me find out if there's any chance he can see past the green and silver I wear."

Lily smiled at that statement while Severus rolled his eyes and Mary just shrugged nonchalantly.

The four students took their stuff and left the library to head to the Great Hall for supper, Severus and Lily chatting away happily (or whatever passed as happy for Severus), Mary watching them closely for any signs of trickery and Peter just hanging back, thinking of how to solve the Prong-Padfoot Conundrum.

When suddenly, a loud shout of "Die, Evildo-ers!" resounded through the corridor they were in and a big glob of some liquid flew towards Peter's face.

_I gave a peek into the mind of Wolf-Remus because I don't think that anyone can understand the body language of a werewolf beyond "I'm gonna eat you raaaggh!" and what happens between Wormtail and Moony needs more than just squeaks and growls, so any needed non-verbal communication in animagus forms will include mindreading by the readers. Don't think it's too much a belief suspension, right?_

_excessivelyperky_ - I actually believe Andromeda Tonks IS a good example, but it would not be one that is obvious to those present since although she would just have been disowned for marrying a Muggleborn, she would not be distinctly 'Good' per se. Besides Peter shouldn't know about her at this time (as a 11 year old boy not related to the blacks).

Guest Account - Yeah, sorry about not being brit. I guess watching Downton Abbey isn't teaching me enough brit speak. Sorry.

_BadGirlgoesworse_ - I'm not holding it hostage. I do write and will write. Just slow (due to work) and maybe a bit affected by my mood (due to emo-ness). I apologise and will ignore haters.


End file.
